The present invention relates generally to communication systems and methods and more specifically to communication systems and methods for executing agreements.
Agreements between parties that recite the obligations of each party become binding once the agreement is executed by all of the parties involved. Each party typically signs the agreement in an area reserved for that party's signature after which the agreement is final.
It is not uncommon, however, for a party to repudiate the agreement. That is, one or more parties can claim that they never executed or signed the agreement in question. If this happens, the non-repudiating party must attempt to prove that the repudiating party did sign the agreement.
This process can be difficult as the non-repudiating party must attempt to show that the signature of the repudiating party is shown on the document. Signature analysis might be used in this respect, or the repudiating party's signature on the document can be compared to other known signatures of the repudiating party.
The non-repudiating party might also attempt to introduce secondary evidence to show that the repudiating party did sign the agreement. This might include evidence of discussions that led up to the execution of the agreement. Nevertheless, even after undergoing the process of attempting to establish that the repudiating party did sign the agreement, the non-repudiating party may still be unsuccessful in proving that the signature on the document belongs to the repudiating party.
It is within the aforementioned context that a need for the present invention has arisen. Thus, there is a need to address one or more of the foregoing disadvantages of conventional systems and methods, and the present invention meets this need.